Romeo and Juliet - Starring Will Solace and Nico di Angelo
by moonshroom420
Summary: Mortal AU. When Percy pairs Nico and Will together for their English project, Nico is ready to kill a man. Playing the Juliet to his long-time-festering-crush's Romeo? Someone have mercy on him. Solangelo. Language. boyxboy.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: **

**Nico Decides Shakespeare Hates Him**

A Study in Shakespeare – that was the name of Nico's new English unit. You'd think they'd have more creative things to offer for Eleventh Grade, even in his school, but no, musty old Victorian play writers it was. But, Nico decided that wasn't even the worst part. He would have been alright studying _Hamlet_, even that _Much Ado About Nothing_ one, but since he decided Shakespeare's ghost hated him to the ends of the earth, they weren't doing either of them.

No, no, they were doing something much crueller.

Romeo and Juliet.

Would you believe him if he said that wasn't the worst part? Because it wasn't. Nope. Nowhere near.

The worst part; the bane of his existence. The reason Nico wanted to sink into the ground and not come out –

Was a simple card in his hand with spidery handwriting on it that read _Will Solace. _His partner for their assessment piece was Will Solace. He had to perform a scene from _Romeo and Juliet _with Will – freakin' – Solace and no this mental freak out had nothing to do with the fact he was crushing so hard on the guy it was like titanium in his stomach nuh uh of course not.

In the long run, Nico blamed Percy Jackson.

* * *

><p>Chiron's Academy for Gifted Boys not only had a super-lame name, but a prime spot in the good old hub known as Long Island Sound. It was a boarding school and housed up to one hundred boys – pitiful compared to other schools, but they were in the middle of the forest. And it was for <em>gifted <em>boys. Therefore, there were around ten or so kids per year level with different timetables and everyone knew everyone.

It wasn't your typical school, either. It was, as mentioned, in the middle of the woods. But it was also the activities there that made it unusual. You could study Archery as an elective, for example. Ancient Greek and Latin were mandatory subjects. Boys were divided into cabins based on personality tests when they arrived and they ate at their cabin's tables each meal time. Sword-fighting, Chariot Racing, Swimming, Canoeing, obstacle courses – they were all part of the curriculum along with the general Math and English, Geography and Science.

Then there was the Greek Mythology. The entire place seemed to be oriented around Mythology. The whole school was referred to as Camp Half-Blood. Each cabin was named after a god or goddess. Different cabins ran different activities. It made each student feel like they weren't even at school and lived the life of an adventurer.

Nico di Angelo was one who didn't feel like this. Put in the Hades cabin, he was alone at his table, with no 'siblings' around. No one else was in Hades with him. He was, by all standards, a loner.

Until Percy Jackson came along. Then, Nico got friends. Percy was the best thing that had happened to him. They were practically brothers.

Which was why Nico blamed Percy right now for getting him paired with Will Solace, who that little shit of a Poseidon kid _knew _Nico had a ginormous crush on.

* * *

><p>"Percy, come up and pick the next pair for the English Project."<p>

Nico watched Percy get out of his seat glumly and trudge up to the desk. The teacher, Ms Dare, smiled at him as he rifled through the hat full of names she had on the desk. Nico could see Percy peeking through his lashes at the names on the bits of paper. His smirked slightly and pulled one out.

"Nico di Angelo," he read, sending Nico a smug grin that just _oozed _'Time to hook you up!'

"Nico, come on up," Ms Dare encouraged. Nico slumped up to the desk, glaring at his classmates, all of whom either grinned back and shot him the bird or ignored him. Leo Valdez was one who fell into the first category. Ethan Nakamura fell into the second.

"And, the lucky partner for this fine young bit of Italian is…" Percy rifled once again, staring at the names before picking one specific one out and reading it loudly.

"Will Solace!"

Percy then thrust the card at Nico, made a run for his seat, and dived into his chair. Nico was left at the front of the class, holding a card _which Will Solace had touched, by the way, _and watching as his project partner for one of the most romantic and tragic plays in history walked up to the front of the class and grinned down at him.

"Awesome," Will said enthusiastically. "Can't wait to get started, Nico."

_Jackson you are one dead man, _Nico thought as he took his new seat beside Will Solace, moving his pencil case, notebook full of doodles, and copy of _Romeo and Juliet, _onto his new desk. Which, if you didn't catch, was right next to Will.

Nico spent the rest of the class staring holes in the back of Percy's head while the Poseidon kid leaned over his copy of the play with his partner, Jason Grace, while simultaneously trying not to think about how close Will's hand was and if Nico could just reach out and touch it-

A _ding dong _clanged through the classroom, signalling the end of English. Nico gathered up his stuff, careful not to brush his hand against Will's, before he started to move off. Percy was already out the door with Jason, and Nico was ready to catch up and give them a piece of his mind when something warm came down on his shoulder. Nico looked around, and stumbled when he realised what- no, who, it was.

"Hey, Nico," Will greeted, an easy grin on his perfect face. "What do you have now?"

_An overwhelming desire to shove you against a wall, _Nico responded mentally. What he said was, "It's a new subject called How Many Times Can I Hit Percy Before He Runs Away."

Will laughed. Nico decided right there that was what the angels based their heavenly choir off, or whatever.

"What did he do this time?"

They started subconsciously walking away from the lone classroom that stood by itself in its little niche at the edge of the school. Grass bent under Nico's combat boots as he and Will walked side by side towards the Big House, which generally all academic classes were in, besides English.

Nico wasn't sure how to respond, so he told a half-truth.

"He and Jason pulled some shit," he replied vaguely. Will snorted.

"Those two and Leo are just the worst," he agreed, and Nico felt a small smile curve his lips. Maybe he wouldn't melt into a puddle of goo right away. Talking to Will was… nice.

"Oh my gods, di Angelo!"

Nico froze, staring ahead. What had he done? Did he do something wrong? Had Will figured it out? Was cyclone Katrina _really _his fault?

In retrospect, those last two were just stupid. Nico mentally hit himself, before turning to Will.

"What?" he asked, his voice a little quieter. Will's mouth was wide open, almost like a snake's.

"You just smiled," he said faintly. "You… you just smiled. At me. You just smiled at me."

Nico felt relief wash through him, but he just calmly raised an eyebrow.

"And that began the Apocalypse how?"

Will laughed again, and they resumed walking.

"It's just you never smile. I see you in class and it just doesn't happen."

"I do smile," Nico said defensively.

"Yeah?" Will demanded. "When."

"Some people make me smile," Nico replied, half lying, half not. Will made him smile.

"Percy?" Will guessed, and Nico could feel a subtle change in his tone. But it was a life-line, so he took it.

"Yeah," he said. "Percy, Jason and Leo. And my sister." _And you, but you can't know that. _

"You have a sister?" Will's eyebrows crept up.

"Mmhm," Nico hummed, his boots thumping against the wood as they ascended the Big House's steps. "She's over the road at Lupa's College."

Lupa's College was Chiron's Academy's sister school, where, ironically, Nico's sister attended. A couple of the boys at Camp Half-Blood had a sister over at Camp Jupiter, which was what they called themselves. It was another Mythology-obsessed school, but instead of Greek, it was Roman. They had socials and dances occasionally with the boy's school. Will nodded.

"What's her name?" he asked. Nico shifted his pencil case.

"Hazel," he replied. Will looked through the trees in the direction of girl's school. Nico felt a little trickle of unwarranted jealousy and tried not to let it show as he added, "and she's dating Frank Zhang so don't think about wooing her."

Will's head shot back to look at Nico, his cheeks red. He dropped his books and pencil case on the doorstep of the Big House and started fumbling to get them.

"No no no, that's not what I meant!" he rambled, picking up _Romeo and Juliet _by the corner of one of the pages. He restacked his things and started through the door, not looking at Nico. "I don't like your sister that way, dude." His cheeks seemed to go a little redder. "I like someone else."

Nico tried not to let his heart sink too far at the thought of Will head-over-heels for some pretty girl next door.

"Okay," he replied lamely, and Will sent him a small, cheerful smile.

"Hey, don't be glum di Angelo. The person I like is as equally unattainable as your sister so you can still be my little Juliet."

Will ruffled Nico's hair and walked towards the room that hosted Advanced Math. Nico stood there for a second, stunned. Then, being the sarcastic little shit he is, he yelled after Will, "Whatever, Romeo!"

Nico tried to convince himself that the laugh he got was _not _his favourite sound in the world.

**Right. So, because I'm Satan and just love torturing myself with Solangelo, this happened. Just, ignore me. Apparently I like doing this to myself. **

**Jasmine Out!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Oh, just in case you were wondering, I'm neither Rick Riordan nor William Shakespeare resurrected from the dead so I don't own Percy Jackson or Romeo and Juliet. **

**Chapter 2:**

**Will Reads Under a Table**

Normally, finding Will Solace reading under his desk in Advanced Math wasn't abnormal. He wanted to be a doctor, and seemed to think that studying medical volumes now would get him there faster.

It was, however, definitely not normal for Will Solace to be reading William Shakespeare with a bright blush on his face and his phone sticking out of his pocket that maybe had one or two photos of Nico di Angelo on it.

"Uh, Will?" someone beside him asked. Will jumped in his chair and shoved his thumb between the pages of _Romeo and Juliet _to mark his spot before turning to his neighbour, a fellow Apollo kid named Lee Fletcher. Lee was looking at him oddly.

"Dude, I understand the medical volumes and the notebook full of bad math puns and doodles, but you cross the line of 'What The Hades' when you read Shakespeare and your face is flushed as a toilet."

"Wha?" Will replied intelligently. Lee rolled his eyes.

"You're blushing so hard you'd think someone had tried to give you a swirly," Lee said. Will covered his cheeks, losing his page in the process. They did feel hot.

"I'm… uh…reading"

"_Romeo and Juliet, _yeah, I got that. For English. But why are you reading it in class and red as Apollo's sacred cows?"

Yes, their cabin had sacred cows that were bright crimson. It was sad, really.

"I just- just want a head start on it," Will stuttered. "I want to do well in this unit."

Lee raised his eyebrows.

"You don't care about English, Solace. What's so grand about this term?"

Will took a deep breath. He wasn't afraid of people knowing he liked guys – in fact, a bunch of people had already come out of their own proverbial closets and no one gave a plop. The bottom line is if your school is obsessed with a civilisation that worshiped gods who went for any pretty mortal regardless of gender, you got over it pretty darn quick if you weren't already.

Will just wasn't sure he wanted to tell Lee _who _he had the hots for.

"I dunno," he said stupidly. "I just… feel like it?" He unconvincingly held up the book. "It's a good play."

"Uh huh," Lee hummed, completely unimpressed. "I don't have to be an Athena kid to see you're doing this for a reason, and I don't have to be from Aphrodite to see that the reason probably breaths air, and is in your class."

"What?" Will asked again. Lee sighed.

"You like a dude in your class and you want to impress him. End of story." He shifted a little closer. Neither of them had been paying attention for the last fifteen minutes. "So, who is it?"

Will waved his hands in front of his face, blushing.

"N-No, you've got it wrong man. I don't like anyone in the class like that."

That wasn't even a lie. Nico di Angelo wasn't in this class. Lee didn't seem to buy it one bit, but he turned away to face the board and jot down the new notes that had appeared there in thick black marker.

"Whatever, man," he mumbled, scratching out an answer.

* * *

><p>In his cabin that night, Will stayed up late reading <em>Romeo and Juliet. <em>He was nearly finished – he was up to the part where Romeo kills Paris and enters the Capulet tomb to find Juliet's body. Will had already called dibs on Romeo's part. Nico had all but agreed that afternoon when he called him Romeo. Will felt a dumb smile come onto his face.

He would get to be the Romeo to Nico's Juliet. It was basically his dream of three years come true. Maybe, too, he could find some way to tell Nico he liked him. Will was afraid of rejection, yes, but anything to alleviate the pangs in his chest whenever he saw the Italian boy. It was getting to the point he felt physically sick whenever Nico did something cute: tucked his hair behind his ear with the tip of a pencil, bit his lip, smiled. Gods, he's do anything to see Nico smile. He'd probably have cardiac conniptions if Nico laughed. But it would be worth the heart attack to see that adorable bit of Hades kid be happy. He never saw Nico happy before unless he was around Percy or Jason.

Will flipped onto his back and held the play above his head, still reading. He couldn't help comparing Percy to Paris – the courter of Juliet in the play. If Juliet in love with Paris and Paris was an oblivious idiot like Percy was and Nico was still Juliet. Will felt a weight in his chest at the thought. Yes, he'd seen how Nico talked about Percy, the light that came into his eyes at the mention of the Poseidon kid's name. Will didn't know for sure, but he thought Nico had a crush on Percy and if that was the case Will had no chance. Percy was an idiot sure, but he was a prodigy at Camp Half-Blood.

Will decided to call it a night and stuck a bit of colourful paper in the pages to mark his spot. Then he switched off his secret reading light, slipped _Romeo and Juliet _under his pillow and fell asleep.

* * *

><p>The next day Will had double English after morning break. He'd finished <em>Romeo and Juliet <em>during Advanced Math previously, and the last line haunted him. It was by far his favourite part in the play, not including the little scenes between Romeo and Juliet. Those two were made for each other. He'd wondered in Math whether he could get away with kissing Nico during practice.

"Helloooo class!" Ms Dare sang as she entered the room after her students. Will sat his butt down on the chair beside the one that held Nico di Angelo. Will secretly envied that chair.

"How're you all going with the play?" Ms Dare asked. Before anyone could answer she continued. "Great! Because I'm sending you out in your pairs to read through it together today. I want you to go through the entire play before picking a scene to perform for the class as assessment. In each pair your characters need to co-exist together in the play. Examples being Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio and Benvolio, or even Mercutio and Tybalt. You decide, as long as they have a scene together." She clapped her hands and waved them at the door. "So get going!"

Will picked his play up and smiled at Nico as he stood, also clutching his play. They started for the door.

"Do we smell or something?" Nico suddenly asked. "She wanted us out pretty bad."

Will laughed as he and Nico branched off from the other drifting pairs. They headed for the woods next to the English room.

"We're boys," Will said. "I think we smell by default."

Nico smiled, looking up at him, and Will literally felt his heart stop. If Nico had told him to die right then he would have. And he would have died a happy man for making the Hades kid smile again.

"Two smiles in two days," Will joked, nudging Nico a bit. "You must be feeling generous."

Nico rolled his eyes.

"Don't get used to it," he replied, walking further.

_Too late, _Will thought.

"You should do it more often," Will said as Nico bent a fern plant back so they could enter a clearing beyond it. Nico gave him a small frown.

"What?" he asked. "Bend ferns?"

Will shook his head, smirking.

"No, I mean smile."

Nico wrinkled his nose, which Will thought was one of the most adorable things that kid could do.

"Why?"

Will couldn't find it in himself to regret what he said next.

"Well, you never know who's going to be falling in love with it."

Nico stopped where he was, which was half-way across the little clearing they'd come to. He turned to look at Will.

"People don't fall in love with me," he said, and to Will it sounded so bitter it was verbalised vinegar to his ears.

"You're Juliet," Will reminded him. "Everyone's falling in love with you."

"Yeah? Well then, Romeo, open your book to Act One and we'll see how fast you fall in love with Juliet."

**Will is someone who keeps the books their reading under their pillow and no one will convince me otherwise. **

**This is my first romance based story and I don't know what I'm doing. I'm sorry if this sucked. I'm not a feelings person really I'm going off what my friends have inflicted upon me. See you next time!**

**Jasmine Out!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: **

**Nico Sort of-Kinda-ish-Maybe Gets a Date**

Nico wasn't sure if he could handle performing _Romeo and Juliet _with Will. Take their first practise as an example.

"We've pretty much already decided we're going to be Romeo and Juliet respectively," Will was saying as he flicked through the play. "I read it through and marked all the interactions between those two characters as I went."

He suddenly looked up, a blush on his face.

"That sounded so much nerdier out loud," he groaned. Nico hurriedly put up his hands.

"No no, it's okay. I – um – actually did that too." He held up his sticker-tagged book. Will grinned brightly at him.

"Alright then, Juliet," the Apollo kid said, "let's give you your Romeo."

Nico hid his pink face behind the book. Will apparently didn't notice, instead rigorously flicking through the pages.

"Romeo moping, la la la… Invited to the ball, whoop de do… Juliet and the Nurse trol lol lol… Mercutio being stupid, hum de dee… Ah ha!"

Nico looked up. He'd already found the page and was reading over it. Will excitedly pointed to the script in his hands. "Found it!"

"Good on you, Solace," Nico teased. "I've only been waiting a century."

"It's actually only thirteen years Juliet waits for Romeo," Will nodded seriously. Nico rolled his eyes.

"She doesn't even know him that long," he retorts. "She pretty much doesn't wait for him at all."

"And therein lies my point. Juliet's impatient. So are you." The little shit then proceeded to wink at Nico, making his face flush. Nico threw his play at Will's head.

"Hey hey hey!" Will protested. "Juliet doesn't throw books at her Romeo!"

"Yeah, well Nico throws books at his Will."

Nico clapped a hand over his mouth, his ears reddening. Will whipped around to look at him, pleasant surprise on his face, before he started wiggling his eyebrows.

"So… I'm yours now, hmm?" he asked, grinning like a moron. Nico took his hands away, scowling.

"Are we doing this or not," he snapped, crossing his arms. Will held his hands up, still beaming like the freakin' sun.

"Yeah, yeah, we are. Here's your book." He handed Nico the fallen play.

"Right," Nico grunted, opening it to Act One Scene Five. "You start, Solace."

Will made a show of clearing his throat before looking down at his play and then gazing lovingly at Nico. Nico felt his face grow hot again. Will didn't even seem to be trying.

"What lady's that which doth enrich the hand of yonder knight?" he asked dreamily, blinking lazily at Nico, who was rooted to the spot. Will then changed persona into a confused staffsman.

"I know not, sir," he replied to himself. Skipping back to where he was as Romeo, Will took on that dreamy, love-struck look again, and stared at Nico unabashedly.

"O she doth teach the torches to burn bright!"

He then went off on a long spiel about how beautiful Juliet was. Nico watched him in fascination. He could literally _feel _the waves of adoration coming off Will like it was a tangible tsunami of butt-kisser-y. Will started edging closer to Nico, looking him directly in the eye as he spoke the last few lines.

"Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night."

"It's the middle of the day," Nico muttered, not stopping himself. Will laughed.

"Lighten up a little, di Angelo," he snorted. "We're never going to get this assignment the grades we deserve if you're going to be a stiff actor."

For some reason Nico felt a little stung by that.

"I haven't even said anything!" he protested. Will raised an eyebrow.

"Oh yeah? I can tell by your demeanour that we have a lot of acting lessons to do."

Nico scowled.

"You want acting? I'll give you acting." He took a step back, waiting for Will to deliver his next line. "I'll give you Juliet."

Will looked a little stunned for a moment, before he smirked.

"Fine by me," he replied. "Let's do this thing."

Then he took on that lovey-dovey look again and walked slowly up to Nico. Nico inhaled deeply, closing his eyes for a second. _I am Juliet. You can do this, di Angelo. Don't let Bianca's acting classes go in vain. _

Nico turned around and pretended not to notice the prowling Romeo nearby. He felt Wills' breath on his ear and inclined his head slightly.

"If I profane with my unworthiest hand this holy shrine, the gentle sin is this. My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss," Will said, his delivery flawless.

_I am Juliet. _

Nico glanced down at his play, checking the lines. Then he looked around at Will and schooled his face into an expression of delight.

"Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much," he replied softly, his voice taking on a tone of lightness that surprised Nico as much as it did Will. He gently took Will's free hand and caressed it. What? Shakespeare demanded he act.

"Which mannerly devotion shows in this, for saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch." Nico leant in mischievously, a kind smile on his face. "And palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss."

He whispered the last line in Will's ear, and Nico actually felt a shiver pass down the Apollo kid's spine. Will didn't react for the longest time.

"Oi, Solace," Nico hissed. "Keep going."

Will jerked himself, roughly pulling Nico too. His face, which Nico hadn't been able to see before, was bright red and he stuttered as he said his line.

"H-Have not saints lips, and holy palmers too?"

Nico nodded solemnly, beyond amused by this entire thing. And he thought Shakespeare hated him!

"Ay, pilgrim," he replied, glancing down again, "lips that they must use in prayer."

Will said something else, but Nico was a little preoccupied with the rapid heartbeat he could hear through the other boy's orange shirt. It sounded like someone had started abusing a bongo drum, hitting it fast and loud every time. He didn't really hear Will give his line, but Nico noticed when he wasn't talking anymore, and hurriedly said his next part.

"Saints do not move, though grant for prayers' sake."

Will, this time not stuttering, replied with, "Then move not while my prayer's effect I take. Thus from my lips, by thine, my sin is purged."

They were then both really, really quiet. Nico's eyes flickered down and saw two words that almost made his legs give out.

'_They kiss.' _

"Well," Will coughed after a moment. "Um, what do we do now?"

Nico moved away from him, his face no longer what he now referred to as Juliet-Nico but back to Regular Nico.

"It says they kiss," he deadpanned, and then felt heat run his face again. Will looked equally embarrassed, and Nico felt a small pang in his chest. He then cursed himself. He had no right to think of Will that way what was he stupid? The guy had already said he liked someone else.

"Well," Will joked, "are we going to 'kiss by th'book'?"

Nico looked down and realised that was a line in the play.

"Probably not," he decided, missing the flash of hurt on Will's face. After all, Nico thought he was being teased.

"But that scene's definitely a, uh, good idea." He looked up at Will. "I think it worked pretty well."

To this Will scoffed.

"Pretty well? Di Angelo, where the Hades did you learn to act like that? Here I was thinking Juliet wouldn't be any fun."

Nico looked affronted.

"Excuse you, Solace, I'm plenty fun." Will rolled his eyes.

"I've not seen you have fun once," he argued.

"I'm capable of having fun without other people." Nico crossed his arms. Will raised an eyebrow.

"Well I make it a goal to see you have fun, Nico." He tapped his chin thoughtfully before his eyes brightened and he gave another grin that the Apollo kids were famous for: a blinding smile that caught the sun.

"There's a leave weekend coming up!" he said excitedly. "Where we can go into New York and stuff. You and I are going together."

Nico opened his mouth.

"No arguments."

Nico closed his mouth.

He felt excited, scared, happy, worried and anticipative all at the same time.

"Fine," he replied, closing his play just as the horn to signal the end of class burst through the trees, telling them to return and get their things. Will punched the air and ran out of the forest of trees, his legs taking him faster than Nico thought was humanly possible.

Nico sighed as he started out of the clearing too, rubbing his face.

"Juliet was in love with Romeo long before they were paired together," he murmured to himself. But this time he wasn't referring to the play dangling from his hand.

**Those oblivious little shits *shakes head* I was in the mood so here you all go. Join me in the Solangelo trashbag of eternal ignorant fluff.**

**Jasmine Out!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: **

**A Heart to Heart with Will and Nico**

Nico had long ago decided that 'stalking' was a far too harsh word for what he did. And 'intense study of a specimen at long distances' was a little scientific. He'd seen other people – _read:_ Percy Jackson – hiding in the trees and bushes outside Lupa's Academy just to get a secret snapshot of their girlfriends in her natural environment. On Percy's phone his folder of Annabeth pictures was called _When Wise Girl Doesn't Know I'm There. _It was by far the creepiest picture file Nico had ever seen.

So Nico had opted for a more subtle approach.

That was where he was now, lying on his back on his bed in the Hades cabin, listening to music, the snoring of Mrs O'Leary, and looking through the pictures in his simply named _Sunshine _folder. As of yet no one had caught on to his modus operandi of classified Will Solace photos. Maybe it was because he never gave his phone to people. Maybe it was because he had triple password locked the file. In any case, the only people who'd seen it were a couple of his friends and even Percy had thought they were just snaps of a sunrise.

Well, they sort of were. In a poetic sense.

Nico was just admiring a particularly nice photo of Will practicing archery when a quiet but demanding knock rang over the noise of the Fall Out Boy quietly playing through the room. Nico practically fell off his bed, instinctively turning off his phone and holding it close like his own personal baby. He stared at the door.

It was past the time all students were meant to be in their beds. The affectionately named 'patrol harpies' would be after any butts that moved from their designated seats. Someone had risked life and limb to knock on Nico's door.

He didn't particularly want to answer it.

Another knock, louder this time, echoed through his cabin. Nico edged closer, his unoccupied hand reaching for the three-foot black sword next to his door. Yes, it was his sword. No, there was no problem with it being in his cabin. He'd made it, he could do what he liked with it. Dems the rules. Their school was a little unorthodox.

Nico leaned against the door, sword in hand.

"Nico!"

Nico jumped back from the crack, dropping his sword on the floor and stuffing his phone in his pocket as though the person outside had X-Ray vision and could see that his pictures folder was full to bursting with photos of them.

Why was Will Solace outside his door at eight-thirty in the evening?

Nico inched back to the door and slowly opened it. He peeked one eye out and was greeted with the sheepish smile of aptly named Sunshine.

"Hi," Will whispered. Nico raised an eyebrow and opened the door a little wider.

"Keep going," he suggested. "Get to the part where you tell me why you're outside my cabin after hours."

Will rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"The others locked me out," he said, his cheeks pink. "Lee said that Percy wanted to see me so we could work out a schedule for tomorrow because it's Saturday and there's no classes."

"Yeah, I know that," Nico rolled his eyes. "I've been going to this school for four years, I think I know by now we don't have lessons on the weekend. But why are you here?"

Will shuffled his feet.

"Well, I said my cabin locked me out. They said Percy wanted to talk to me and I left, but when I got to the Poseidon cabin it was locked and the lights were out. So I went back to my rooms but when I got _there _it was locked too!" He threw up his arms in exasperation. "And I was wandering around, trying to avoid the harpies when I saw your cabin and…"

He looked down.

"I suppose I was wondering if I could hide in here for a little bit."

It took Nico's brain a couple of seconds to compute what Will said. Then a couple more seconds to have a tiny mental party that Will considered them close enough to come to him for help when his cabin mates played a prank on him. He wondered if he should close the door though. His sanity might not be able to handle being alone in his cabin with Will Solace.

"Get in quick so the harpies don't see," Nico found himself saying, because he is a weak, weak person who had already lost his mind long ago so what does one night with Will mean to him. A lot, was his silent answer when he found himself blushing at Will's grateful smile.

"Thank you so much, Nico," Will breathed, holding his chest and collapsing on the floor while Nico closed the door. "I thought I was going to get _eaten!"_

"I heard a rumour the harpies were cannibals," Nico added helpfully. The harpies were what the students called the guard patrol who made sure no one was out of their cabins after eight. They were vicious things and attacked on sight. The director, Chiron, assured the students that they were safe as long as they stayed indoors. The harpies were there for their protection, anyway. From what, Nico had a small theory.

Will shot him a look.

"Not helping, di Angelo," he huffed, rolling onto his back. "I was sure I was going to die. Thank the gods you're such a kind soul."

Nico gave a shocked snort and frowned at his temporary roommate.

"You're kidding," he deadpanned. Will shook his head, his breathing still heavy.

"Not," he replied. "You're a nice person. You just don't accept it because no one tells you."

Nico rolled his eyes and sat down on his bed, leaning against the wall.

"I'm not nice," he refused. Will flopped onto his side to look at Nico.

"Yes, you are," the Apollo kid said. "Just now you saved my butt from cannibalistic school guards."

"That's one time," Nico objected. Will held his arm up in the air for silence.

"And if you're listening, Nico," he continued, "you'll hear the contented snores of a gigantic dog who you took in after the owner died right on our campus. Sans owner, that dog would have gone to the pound. What did you do? You said anyone who tried to take Mrs O'Leary would get your Stygian sword up their asses and a kick to boot." Will looked over at aforementioned 'gigantic dog', who was making throaty noises as she slept on one of the unused beds. Nico felt his face heat up.

"That was one time," he repeated. Will shook a crafty finger.

"According to your count it's two now," he replied, grinning. "And I have plenty more evidence, di Angelo, so just sit back and listen to a recount of your heroic deeds."

"I'm starting to wish I left you outside," Nico grumbled, flopping down onto his pillow. He waited in trepidation for the onslaught of bull that was about to come out of Will's mouth, but it never came. Nico shifted his gaze over to the blond boy on his rug to find him with a small, happy smile on his face and his fingers pointing to the iPod dock player that was still humming away through the room. With growing horror Nico realised he had simply done a deal with the devil and traded one hell for another.

"_There are times when I don't know where I stand, wow, sometimes,  
>You make me feel like I'm a boy and not a man, wow, sometimes."<em>

The iPod had betrayed him and played one of his more sentimental songs. _Heart to Heart _had been one of Nico's favourites for a long time standing. It reminded him of Bianca, his full sister, who'd died the same time he came to Chiron's Academy. She'd been at her own boarding school, run by a Lady Artemis. One day there was an attack and Bianca and another girl Percy knew, Zoe Nightshade, were killed. Nico often wondered if this was why Chiron's and Lupa's had cannibals as patrol guards.

"I didn't know you liked James Blunt," Will said. Nico looked away.

"I don't," he said quietly. "I just… like that song."

Will sat up, apparently sensing that there was a time for jokes and this was not it.

"Is there a reason?" he asked softly. Nico took a deep breath. Bianca had been a sore subject for most of his life, even when she was alive. Even as a kid he loved and defended her to his last breath, or at least he tried. When she died, no one went near Nico for weeks in case he cut their heads off. Even years later he still wasn't over it.

But Will was nice. He was kind. Nico knew he understood what losing a sibling was like. One of Will's cabin mates died on her way to school in a car crash and at the Academy, your cabin was your family.

"It reminds me of my sister," Nico replied, looking at his hands.

"Hazel?" Will asked. Nico shook his head.

"No, my other one. My full sister. She… died, four years ago. In the attack on Huntress College."

Will got up off the floor and silently sat down beside Nico, laying his hand on the smaller boy's shoulder.

"It's a nice song," he said finally. "I bet she was a lovely person."

"She was," Nico agreed, twisting the skull ring on his finger. That had been a gift from Bianca, a week before the school was compromised. Nico still had the letter she'd attached to it.

"Does it make you sad?" Will suddenly asked. Nico looked at him, frowning.

"What?"

"The song," Will clarified. "Does it make you sad?"

Nico shrugged, not used to talking about it.

"A little," he admitted. He felt Will grin beside him.

"Well, we're going to make it happy," he announced. "Every time you hear it you'll grin like a moron."

"Like you're doing now?" Nico teased. Will looked at him with an exaggerated expression of hurt.

"That is not nice!" he yelped, dramatically falling off the bed.

"Told you," Nico said, lying back down. "I'm not nice."

Will sighed as he rolled on the floor some more.

"I don't know how a simple rescue turned into a Deep and Meaningful," he pouted. "Isn't the hero supposed to kiss the damsel and they get married happily ever after?"

Nico hid his furious blush in his pillow. Why, Will?

"Are you calling yourself a damsel?" he asked, his voice muffled. Will squawked in dissent.

"No!" he squeaked. "…yes. No! I didn't- I'm Romeo!"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

Will pointed an accusing finger at Nico.

"_You're _the damsel," he said, "_you _go get into trouble so I can rescue you."

"Yes," Nico hummed, his face still buried in the pillow. "Juliet's really good at doing what she's told."

"Oh shut up, di Angelo!" Something hit Nico's leg and he looked around long enough to see what it was.

"Did you just throw your shoe at me?"

"I might have," Will sniffed.

"You're the worst Romeo."

"Yeah, well, you have the wrong colour hair for Juliet."

"That's the best you can do?"

"So what if it is?"

"Maybe we should swap, since you're obviously better Juliet material."

"I never said that!"

"It was implied."

"You're impossible."

"Thank you."

**Psht, those two. This sort of wrote itself, sorry if it sucks. **

**NOW, QUESTION TIME FOR MY FELLOW SOLANGELO-IANS! **

**I had this new idea for another Solangelo story because I'm just the Queen of the trash-tip. So my question is:**

**Would any of you read a Solangelo story where Will is a pirate and Nico is a mermaid and Will kidnaps him? I've got like, three chapters of it already but I don't know whether to post it or not. **

**Replies are nice. **

**Jasmine Out!**

**P.S. Remember that song. It's important because plot. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5:**

**Will and Romeo Share a Soliloquy**

Will was surprised how easily the night passed without incident.

By incident, he meant tackling the obliviously adorable bit of Tall, Dark and di Angelo and kissing him senseless. There were a few moments Will had barely stopped himself, and he could remember them all. He vowed they would forever be burned into the mental folder of 'Almost's' in the twenty-million gigabyte file on Nico di Angelo in his brain.

It was official. Will Solace had long moved passed the 'vague but still intense crush' stage and was too deep to get out of the 'if he looks at me I faint,' faze. He hoped he wouldn't start having fanboy attacks. That could get messy.

Sneaking out of the Hades cabin in the morning was easier than he expected. The door faced the woods, so he could run out quietly and then come back saying he'd gone for an early morning jog. Nico had even lent him a baggy black sweatshirt so he could hide better. Will had pulled the warm garment on right away and grinned at Nico.

"It's perfect!" he'd exclaimed, showing Nico how the sleeves hung over his hands and how the neck drooped down to the collar of his orange Camp Half-Blood shirt. Nico had given a quiet laugh and Will had to discreetly cover his face to hide his small blush. Then he left and as he was running, he looked back just once. Will saw Nico at the door, half hidden by it, and looking out, watching him leave. At that moment, Will felt like the boyfriend who'd stayed the night without the parents knowing. He wished that he could feel that way and know it was true.

Entering the Apollo cabin after finding the door had miraculously unlocked, Will glared at the first people he saw. One boy, Michael Yew, had the decency to look embarrassed. Lee on the other hand, just raised his eyebrow and said, "Whose sweater's that?"

Will scowled at him as he moved to his bed, rubbing his hair and deciding he needed a shower.

"A friend's," he replied, gathering up clean clothes and heading for the bathroom. "And thanks' for locking me out, by the way, guys. Really nice of you."

"Will-"

"Do you know that the harpies are cannibals? I could have _died!" _

"Will-"

"You're all _so _lucky I found somewhere to hide."

"SOLACE!" Lee shouted, and Will halted halfway through the bathroom door. Lee was looking at something on his back.

"What?" Will asked, twisting to try and see himself. Michael was smirking.

"Your sweater says _Cabin 13 _on the back_," _Lee deadpanned. Will felt his breath stutter and rocks pile into his stomach.

Shit.

On one hand, Will was immediately in love with the sweater and planned on never giving it back. On the other…

"Did you hide with di Angelo?"

Will glanced over his shoulder to see Lee looking at him with an 'I know all so cut the crap and spill' expression. Michael was kind of just giggling behind his hand.

"So what if I did?" Will replied, feeling defensive. Lee sighed and there was a beat of silence before he dug around in his pocket and fished out a five dollar bill. Michael took the money gleefully before prancing off. Will stared at Lee in disbelief.

"What the Hades was that?" he shouted. Lee shrugged.

"I did some research," he said. "Found out your partner for the Romeo and Juliet thing. It doesn't take Sherlock to see you've got a bloody big thing for Nico, Will."

Will grabbed his head and leant against the door frame, groaning.

"Fuck me."

"I'm going to leave that particular duty up to di Angelo, actually," Lee replied. Will heard his footsteps leaving the cabin.

"I hate you!" Will yelled after him, throwing the first thing he decided was flight-worthy. His clean t-shirt sailed through the air and flapped gently over Lee's head. Will stormed into the bathroom, not bothering to check the fruits of his hard-won labour, and slammed the door behind him.

* * *

><p>When Will exited his angry-but-calming shower, he realised he had a problem.<p>

Throwing his shirt at Lee had left him minus one important article of clothing. He didn't want to walk around without the top half of his outfit this early in the morning, but he wasn't in the mood for sticking around in his cabin any longer than it took to run out and slam the door. But the only piece of clothing that could do the job was…

Will decided he'd never had anything against sweaters and since it was mid-Autumn, he would wear the damn thing.

Wanting to put it on also had absolutely nothing to do with the fact it was clearly Nico's. Will was adamant on this fact. Leaving the bathroom, Will whizzed past his bed, grabbed his copy of _Romeo and Juliet, _and slammed the cabin door behind him, letting the building rattle on its foundations and hopefully pissing off a couple of his siblings.

Will headed for the edge of the forest and sat down in the shade of a really tall tree. It would be good to climb, he decided. So, putting the play between his teeth, Will reached up for the first branch. Swinging his legs onto it as well, he balanced long enough to scramble to the trunk and shimmy his way further.

Five minutes later, Will was seven meters off the ground and very happy with himself. He was seated on a thick limb of the tree, his legs dangling down on either side, and his back against the main bark. Sunlight dappled the leaves around him and Will closed his eyes for a moment, breathing in the smell of early morning, plantation, living things and of course, the addictive scent of Nico di Angelo's sweater. It was like pomegranates, and something else. Will wasn't sure how it was possible for someone to smell like the shadows, but Nico did it. _Eau du Darkness, _maybe. _Bottled Night. _Whatever it was, Will liked it.

Opening his play to the second marker that signified a Romeo/Juliet interaction, Will started reading to himself in a whisper.

"He jests at scars that never felt a wound." Will couldn't help but compare his opening line to what just happened with Lee.

"But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun!"

Nico was the night, actually. Will decided to skip the whole moon-hating thing.

"It is my lady; O, it is my love! O, that she knew she were!"

If only Nico knew Will liked him more than friends.

Suddenly there was movement below him, and Will looked down. He bit his tongue to stop a call of surprise when he saw Nico sliding down to sit on the ground at the foot of the same tree Will himself was in. The Hades kid seemed to have headphones in and was opening his copy of _Romeo and Juliet _to what Will thought he could see was the same scene he was looking at. He watched Nico's eyes skim over what he had just said and Will had a ridiculous feeling that this scene was a prophecy written hundreds of years ago just for this moment.

"She speaks, yet she says nothing: what of that?"

Will continued with his spiel of Juliet-love, looking at Nico the whole time.

"Her eyes discourses; I will answer it."

Nico looked up from his book and glanced around. Will really did want to slide down and talk to him.

"I am to bold," he sighed. "Tis not to me she speaks."

Nico went back to his play. Will skipped a few lines and continued from there.

"The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars, as daylight doth a lamp.

"See how she leans her cheek upon her hand! O, that I were a glove upon that hand, that I might touch that cheek!"

There was a moment of silence from both parties until Nico, who couldn't have known Will was in the tree and obviously had wicked timing skills, suddenly sighed and said, "Ay me!"

Will almost laughed at the perfection of the entire moment.

"She speaks: O, speak again, bright angel!"

Didn't di Angelo mean 'angel' in Italian?

Down at the bottom of the tree, Nico looked away from his book and out to the horizon, where the sun was still rising.

"O, Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?"

_In the tree, _Will wanted to say. It was legitimately the entire scene reversed: Romeo was up high and Juliet was on the ground. Will was the sun and Nico was the night. Need he go on?

"Deny thy father and refuse thy name; or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, and I'll no longer be a Capulet."

Will checked his play and found yet another irony.

"Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?"

Will decided to completely screw the entire thing, and carefully put his play in his back pocket before jumping off the branch where he'd been sitting. His hands caught one a meter down and he swung dangerously for a moment before his feet found purchase and he stepped down onto another trunk. He repeated this until there was only a two-meter drop left. He leapt off, grinning like a fool, and just before he hit the ground he tucked into a roll and came up undamaged. Swivelling around, Will gave Nico a delighted grin.

"Hiya!" he greeted. Nico jumped so hard his shirt grated against the bark and scratched the back of his neck. His eyes shot to Will and widened. He hastily pulled one of the earbuds out.

"Di immortals, Solace!" he gasped. "Where the Hades did you come from?"

Will hesitantly pointed up.

"About seven meters above you," he replied sheepishly. "I, uh, was going over the next scene."

Nico glanced at his book.

"Me too," he replied, his face a tiny bit pink. Will decided it was probably the shock of having someone jump out of a tree almost on top of you. Will pulled his play back out and started thumbing back to the page he was at.

"So…" he started, but Nico unexpectedly looked up at him, a wicked gleam in his eye.

"What man art thou, that thus bescreen'd in night so stumblest on my council?"

It took a minute for Will to understand what he meant and a second more to swallow his laughter. Di Angelo, that little shit. Instead he followed up with Romeo.

"By a name I know not how to tell thee who I am: my name, dear saint, is hateful to myself, because it is an enemy to thee. Had I it written, I would tear the word," he replied, grinning at Nico as the other boy pasted on a confused expression.

"My ears have yet not drunk a hundred words of that tongue's utterance, yet I know the sound: art thou not Romeo, and a Montague?" He looked at Will in a way that made the Apollo kid forget his own name, screw Romeo's.

"Probably," he said instead, completely breaking the act into a thousand tiny little pieces of Romeo and Juliet.

Under the tree, Nico rolled his eyes, a tiny flicker of a smile on his face.

"Very literate, Solace," he said, glancing at Will through his eyelashes. Will's chest constricted.

"Aren't I just?" he asked rhetorically, moving towards Nico and making a gesture like, 'Mind if I invade your space?' Surprisingly Nico just nodded and Will sat down beside him.

"So what's that you're listening to?" Will asked. Nico hesitated, before taking an iPod out of his hoodie pocket and showing Will the screen, blushing slightly in embarrassment.

"Breaking Benjamin," Will noted, nodding in agreement. "I see that. Which song?"

Nico wordlessly handed Will the earbud he'd taken out before, and Will put it in. He was greeted with a sudden slow break in the song before words started drifting through.

"I Will Not Bow," the blond said, looking at Nico with a small grin. Nico didn't meet his eye. "Suits you."

Will was met with a sceptical look, and he sat up a little. He enjoyed explaining to Nico why he was amazing. It made him feel like he was justifying his crush _to _his crush. Which he sort of was.

"I mean it, Nico. The whole, _I take crap from no one, I don't give up, I'm a stubborn little shit and it'll get me killed one day but I'll love every second _theme has Nico di Angelo written all over it. 'I will not bow, I will not break, I will shut the world away.' I see it." Will stared at Nico intently, basically forcing the black haired boy's reflex's to look at him. "'I will not fall, I will not fade.' You're as strong as they come, Nico."

Will took the earbud out, sensing a bit of emotional turmoil in the boy beside him. He shifted to face Nico. The Hades kid wouldn't look up to meet his gaze.

"I'm not great," Nico whispered, staring off to the side. Will – yes, maybe his hand would be bitten off but he did it anyway – touched his fingers to the underside of Nico's chin and gently moved the other boy's face to look at him.

"Well, whatever you think, know that there are so many people who admire you. And I am proud to be taking you out to McDonalds next weekend when we go on leave."

At this, Nico raised an eyebrow. Will mentally slapped himself. Way to kill the mood, Solace.

"I like McDonalds."

Well, that was unexpected.

"I knew that," Will reassured himself, earning an odd look from his company. He quickly took his hand away and waved it around in the air, as though it might catch an excuse for him to use.

"I mean, you know, its common knowledge!" he exclaimed, gesturing wildly. "Nico di Angelo – McDonalds. They're practically synonyms."

Nico snorted, thankfully, and Will decided he could breathe a little easier now.

"You're as bad as Percy," he told Will. Generally, that was an insult. But since Will had a raging theory Nico had a thing for Percy Jackson, the Apollo kid considered it a gigantic victory. He shot to his feet and pumped the air in some semblance of a victory dance and before Nico could ask him what that was about, Will took off running, grinning like a madman.

"I'll see your ass at sword training, di Angelo!" he called over his shoulder.

"My ass will be there, don't worry, Solace!" was the reply. Will did a little unmanly squeal that he later denied to any ear-witnesses.

"Hang on, Solace!"

Will skidded to a halt and whipped around to see Nico, standing up and staring at him.

"Is that my sweater?"

Will proceeded to bullshit his answer, explaining how Lee viciously stole his only shirt in an extreme fight to the death earlier that day.

**Ignore me, I don't know what I'm doing with this. It's just filling all my guilty pleasures like Breaking Benjamin, Solangelo and Clueless Fluff. By the way, I would go listen to that song. Don't you agree it has NICO DI ANGELO written all over it? **

**See ya'll next time!**

**Jasmine Out!**

**P.S. I might post the mermaid story later in the week, when I don't have exams. Thank you everyone who supported it – because you all did, regardless of actually wanting to read it or not. Really, it was sweet. **

**Bye! **


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6:**

**Will Uses a Sweater for Evil**

Nico's ass was definitely at sword training, Will noted. The Hades boy had a fine booty, but it was nothing compared to his chest. Will silently both thanked and dammed the hot sun for making Nico take his shirt off.

Will watched in absolute awe as Nico deftly cut down every dummy he came up against. The Hephaestus cabin had mechanicalised them, so they actually fought back and didn't just stand there waiting to get sliced up. It was Nico against about twenty, and he was slashing them down one by one, not getting hit. Will supposed that you didn't just go to Camp Half-Blood and not excel at some kind of weapon. He himself was pretty handy with a bow and arrow, and from long afternoons spent trailing behind Nico, Will knew he was good with archery too.

When training was finished, Will was heading for the stands where Nico was taking a drink with the intention of talking to him about that night's game of Capture the Flag. It was a Saturday night tradition, and cabins made pacts with each other to fight on the same team. Every second week they had a game where they were allowed real weapons. In those games, they weren't allowed to take prisoners or bind people. But in the no-weapons one it was free-for-all. The only way to win was either through hand-to-hand, or kidnapping the entire opposing team.

Will was rudely shoved from his musings of Nico being carried away by some evil shadowy people and yelling for Will to save him by the sight of Conner and Travis Stoll talking to Nico. Frowning, Will sped up, just in time to catch their conversation.

"…Percy said you might be on our team for Capture the Flag tonight," Conner was saying.

"So we wanted to know if you were," Travis finished. Nico tugged his black shirt back on over his head before answering.

"Yeah," he replied. "Percy already traded training slots with me so I'd join the blue team. I'm playing with you guys tonight."

Conner and Travis high-fived before they ran off. Will approached Nico, his insides melting. Nico had already promised he'd play on Percy's team. This day was taking a downhill ride. Will knew for certain that Apollo and Hermes were on opposite teams tonight.

"Hi," he greeted. Nico swung around, and his face instantly flushed.

"Uh, hi, Will," Nico replied unsteadily, his eyes flicking to the tanned, toned chest that was on full display because, oh dear, Will had taken his sweater off. No matter how much he loved the thing, it was too hot to fight in easily.

"So, you're on blue tonight," Will said uneasily. Nico nodded, turning his head away and continuing to pack his training bag.

"Yeah," he confirmed. "I traded sword training slots with Percy this morning in exchange for going blue."

"Then I guess we're on opposite sides," Will said. Nico looked up at him.

"Oh," he said slowly. "Yeah." He shook his head and went back to zipping up his bag. "I forgot Apollo had done the challenging this week."

"My cabin needed closure," Will argued, a small smile on his face. He'd challenged the Hermes cabin at dinner a few nights ago to this weeks' Capture the Flag on account of their latest prank turning one of his siblings hair bright green.

"Yes, the green-dye-in-the-shower-head thing," Nico hummed, shouldering his bag. "I was surprised Austin's whole body wasn't green."

"Me too," Will agreed, stepping into stride with the other boy. They seemed to be walking over to where his things were.

"I guess it was only hair-dye though," Nico mused as Will bent down to quickly pack his own bag and put the sweater back on.

"You're still wearing my sweater," Nico noticed as Will stood back up. Will blushed and rubbed his cheeks sheepishly.

"Yeah," he said. "It was all I had." He picked at the front of it. "Do you want it back?"

"No," Nico said hurriedly. "You can keep it. It's far too big for me, anyway."

"You're just saying that because it's sweaty now," Will teased. Nico held his hands up.

"No, I didn't mean it like that!" he objected. "I just don't mind you having it, is all."

"Mmhm," Will hummed, smirking. He pulled the bottom of the humongous sweater out and deftly yanked it down over Nico's head. Nico squawked as he tried to get out. Will felt tingles of cold shudder down his spine as Nico's hair brushed against his stomach.

Suddenly a nest of ruffled black locks popped out of the neck hole next to Will. The Apollo kid looked down in surprise, before he laughed.

Nico had used the massiveness of the sweater to his advantage, and in consequence, he was little more than an inch from Will's face. His cheeks were bright pink as he stuttered.

"N-Not cool, Solace!" he cried, trying to drop his bag off his shoulder so he could use his arms to pull himself out. Will was too busy giggling at how cute Nico looked – a pale little face in a sea of black sweater cloth.

"Sorry, sorry," Will said as he calmed down. He reached around to find the bottom of the sweater. The hem was resting just against Nico's back, and Will wasn't sure if he imagined the little shiver the other boy got when his fingers touched the skin under his shirt.

Will managed to find the edge of the sweater and pull it off Nico. He was grinning the whole way. It was worth it all to be in such close proximity to his crush. Nico looked embarrassed and rumpled, his hair sticking up each and every way.

"That was evil use of a sweater," he grumbled, shrugging his bag on his shoulder and pouting at Will. Will grabbed his own stuff and they started walking out.

"Nah, you liked it," Will joked, waving his hand in the air. Nico glared at him and Will put his hands in the air, surrendering, a huge smile still on his face. They kept walking and the conversation started up again. Somehow they got onto the subject of whether showering before Capture the Flag was worth it since they'd just get all sweaty again anyway. It took Will a long time to notice that they'd passed the Apollo cabin and were coming up to Hades. Nico stepped onto the porch of the creepy black cabin, shooting a smile at Will over his shoulder.

"Do you want to do some play practice before the game?" Nico asked. He seemed almost shy. Will could tell his face had lit up like Las Vegas at night and he nodded vigorously.

"Yep, yep, yep," he said, grinning wildly.

"Then you're going to need to shower," Nico told him. He pointed to the same tree they'd met at that morning. "I'll see you there in fifteen minutes."

Will started to leave and he waved back at Nico, yelling, "See you soon, Stinky!"

"Bye, Smelly!" Nico shouted in response, before his door closed and Will started back to his own cabin. He couldn't stop smiling the whole way.

* * *

><p>They went to Act Three, Scene Five, as the next Romeo and Juliet interaction.<p>

"Where's this bit again?" Will asked as he thumbed through his tags, looking for the right one. Nico coughed.

"It's after, um… after Romeo and Juliet… ah… _consummate their marriage."_

Will felt his cheeks heat up a little.

"Oh," he said softly. "You mean they-"

"Let's stop there, shall we?" Nico interrupted, holding his play open and clearing his throat. Will ducked his head and had a long look over the lines.

"You're starting here, Neeks," he said.

Nico shot him a grumpy look and muttered something like, "Don't call me Neeks."

"Fine," Will tried again. "You're starting here, Death Boy."

"That's no better!" Nico cried, staring at him. Will shrugged.

"Well, it's your nickname now so get used to it."

Nico grumbled as he started his line.

"Wilt thou be gone? It is not yet near day…"

* * *

><p>They ran that scene once through and then sat under the tree together, waiting for the sun to finish setting on the horizon.<p>

"I just realised," Will said, "that Romeo and Juliet have like, five scenes together: they meet, they kiss, they get married, they get frisky, and then they die."

"You just summed up the circle of life," Nico said blandly, before he cracked a smile. Will laughed and casually slung an arm around the black haired boy's shoulders.

"You made a funny," he said, sticking his tongue out. "I like it when you make funnies."

"You're talking like a baby," Nico parroted. "I hate it when you talk like a baby."

"Aw, come on!" Will whined.

When the two parted to get ready for Capture the Flag, Nico made the 'I'm watching you' sign at him. Will did finger-guns and shot the other boy, winking as he did so. Nico rolled his eyes and headed off, waving behind his back. Will walked to his cabin, whistling a tune he'd heard his mother sing to him as a kid.

**I'm really looking forward to Capture the Flag! I left myself a back door for the next chapter, and I'm still debating if I want to take it or not, but I think I will. It'll be funny, I hope. **

**Now, onto the whole Solangelo Mermaid one. I would have posted it, I swear, but I have no idea what kind of title it could have! I'm stuck on a name for the story! If anyone has any ideas, tell me, please. **

**See you next time! **

**Jasmine Out!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7:**

**Lee Fletcher Strangles a Tree**

The red plume on Will's helmet flopped backwards as he straightened up from the strategy meeting with his team to crack his back. As the counsellor for the cabin leading tonight's game, he was in charge of designating campers where they were meant to go. He got the Athena cabin – who was mercifully on his team – to get to work on a strategy.

"The blue team has both Percy and Nico. That's a fair amount of power right there," Malcom was saying to Will, the rest of the red team surrounding them, waiting for orders.

"I can take Percy," Jason offered, his face in a gleeful smile. Will nodded to him.

"Do it," he replied. "Distract him or take him in, whatever you can."

Jason, Percy and Nico were known through Chiron's as the Big Three – ironic, considering their cabins. Zeus, Poseidon and Hades were the 'eldest gods' of Greek Mythology. Jason and Percy had been going to Camp Half-Blood since they were little kids, and were so skilled with weapons and world knowledge they even taught younger students. That didn't stop them being idiots, though.

Nico was a little powerhouse unto himself, Will decided. Small, fast, and with the ability to almost become one with the shadows. Every team wanted him for Capture the Flag when they played, especially on weapons nights.

Jason nodded, a grin on his face.

"I'll distract him alright," he promised. "Time I got my revenge for the Torpedo Thing."

Will almost asked. Almost. Then he remembered this was Percy Jackson and Jason Grace he was talking about. He closed his mouth.

"Leo Valdez is on the blue team as well," Malcom continued, sweeping a token that represented the Hephaestus cabin across his strategy board. So far the tokens for Apollo, Hecate, Zeus, Ares, Athena and Nemesis were on their side of the board. The blue side had Poseidon, Hades, Hephaestus, Hermes and Aphrodite. There was still a bunch of tokens on the edge of the board, waiting for Malcom to put them down.

"We'll need to look out for him. He's been working long hours in the forge this week; something for tonight definitely. We don't know what it might be so keep your guard up."

Everyone watched Malcom sit up on the ground and look up at them all.

"Ares can handle Leo," he told Will. The Ares campers cheered, raising their fists. "Whatever he's cooked up can't be armed, so they should be able to take it, easy. Jason can take some of Athena if he wants, to tackle Percy."

Jason nodded.

"I'll bring them," he said. "The sooner we kick Jackson's ass the better."

"The last single opponent we need to bump is Nico." Malcom pointed to the Hades tile. "He'll be the biggest problem for the defenders if we don't find him."

"We'll take di Angelo," a voice from behind Will said. The Apollo counsellor looked around to see Lee Fletcher with his hand in the air.

"Good idea," Malcom said, turning back to his strategy board. "Apollo cabin is in charge of finding Nico. As soon as you get him, bring him back here. We can't let him loose or this game is as good as lost." The Athena boy looked up at Will. "You okay with that?"

Will was trying to remember how to breathe properly, and he barely managed a nod.

"Yeah," he croaked. "Nico. Got it."

"He's got it, alright," Lee whispered behind him. Will aimed a kick backwards and it hit Lee's calf. Will was unrepentant of the pained huff he got in response. The idiot deserved it.

Malcom then went on to instruct the rest of the cabins what they would be doing. Something about the Hecate boys taking a tree-top route and fireflies. Will wasn't really listening. He briefly wondered why Malcom wanted fireflies before his thoughts immediately turned back to Nico. They were purely strategic thoughts, mind you. Totally strategic. He was simply thinking of kidnapping Nico. See? Strategic. That was the whole point of the Apollo cabin going after the single Hades camper. Will told himself he wasn't thinking of kidnapping Nico away from the entire game for a make-out session in the Hades cabin. Of course not.

His whole situation was very Hades-esque, once he started thinking of it. Here he was, unrequitedly falling harder and harder for an unattainable beauty and someone was telling him he could go abduct said beauty from where they were supposed to be and take them away. It was Hades and Persephone all over again, except Will was Hades and Nico was Persephone. That didn't work in his mind because Nico hated flowers and Will didn't live underground. Plus, Malcom didn't resemble Zeus in any way. But still. The concept was the same.

"Okay," Malcom finally said, snapping Will of out of his Hades revere. "We're ready. As soon as the conch shell blows-"

A deafeningly low and loud blare of sound suddenly erupted through the woods, interrupting Malcom.

"GO!" he finished anyway. That was the conch shell blowing. You had to take what you got, Will supposed.

Rolling his shoulders, Will shouted once to the Apollo cabin before leading them into the forest. They had a Hades kid to find.

* * *

><p>Said Hades kid was proving even more elusive than they expected.<p>

Will could hear the sounds of campers tackling each other and even the obnoxious yelling of Percy and Jason going at it on the other end of the woods. They were that loud. Will didn't even want to know how they managed to involve the stream in their fight because listening to the water slap around was enough to make him wince.

"What the Tartarus could they be _doing _over there?" Michael whispered to him, hefting the small coil of rope that was resting on his shoulder. Will shrugged.

"I don't know," he replied quietly. "But I have a feeling I'll be treating it back in the infirmary when this is over."

"If you want this to be over," Lee growled, "quit yapping and help us find your Juliet, Solace. This is getting ridiculous."

Will passionately denied his face heating up at the mention of Nico being 'his Juliet'.

"Can it, Fletcher," he hissed back. "You think I want to go and treat those two water-smacking idiots?"

"You're avoiding the task at hand," Lee told him. "Why can't you just go get on your knees and preach some Romeo shit? That should bring di Angelo out."

Will kicked his surrogate brother again.

"Yeah, bring him out to laugh at me," he said angrily. "Just shut up, Lee."

"I'd deny laughing at you," a sudden, new voice said from above the Apollo boys. "But that would be lying."

Will shot around and squinted up at the tree where the sound had come from.

"Nico?" he asked. There was a flap of shadows before the answer.

"No, it's Caspar the Friendly Ghost, Solace– of course it's me."

Beside Will, Michael started uncoiled the rope. Lee nodded at the other boy in approval. Will didn't notice – he just wanted to find Nico.

"Where are you?" he asked the dark air. There was another subtle move in the shadows before Nico replied, his voice changing spots.

"Good idea," Nico replied sarcastically. "Give my position away to people trying to find me."

"Uh," another boy, Austin, said. He was the one who'd gotten his hair turned green by the Hermes cabin. "You just did that anyway."

Nico scoffed.

"But do you know exactly where I am?" he replied. Before anyone could guess he said, "No, didn't think so."

"Come on, di Angelo," Lee grumbled, looking around at all the shadows and holding up his fists. "Don't hide like a coward; fight me."

"Do you want to get beaten up by someone shorter than you?" came the response. Despite the moonlight not giving the best view, Will saw Lee's cheeks darken.

"I can take you," the angry Apollo boy spat. Nico gave a chuckle before a cold wind told the group he'd changed spots again. Damn, he was good at hiding.

"The only thing being taken is your flag," the Hades kid said.

Lee roared and lunged for the place Nico's voice seemed to be coming from. Will watched in horror as Lee's hands seemed to close around something suspiciously the same size as a human neck. Lee started throttling whatever he'd grabbed with all his strength.

"Jeez," Nico said again, this time apparently behind Will. "What did that tree ever do to you?"

Will sighed in relief. Lee turned on him and poked his chest.

"Whose side are you on?" he accused. Will put up his hands.

"Calm down, Lee," he told his sibling. "We can't catch Nico if you're acting crazy."

"And I can't catch your flag if I'm here talking to you guys, so-" Another ruffle of shadows "-Bye!"

Will pointed in the direction of their flag, watching as a Nico-shaped being phased in and out of visibility as he flicked through the darkness.

"Let's go!" he told his cabin. "Now or never."

They all ran after Will, who locked his eyes on Nico. _Sassy little shit, _Will thought, an amused smile appearing on his face. Will saw Lee scowling out of the corner of his eye.

_I will not lose this game to a sarcastic ass, _Will decided, running faster. _Even if he is totally adorable. _

**So apparently Capture the Flag is now a two chapter thing because Nico wanted to be sassy and ruin my plot. Thanks a lot Nico, ya little shit! **

**Nico POV next up. We need to see the blue team side of things. **

**I know this sucks too, I'm sorry. It's late at night and I'm tired and don't feel so good but I knew I needed to give you a chapter. I'll make up for it next time bcs more funny things coming up. You can probably see where this is going anyway. **

**Jasmine Out!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**Nico Accepts his Inner Juliet **

Nico knew he'd have to save Percy Jackson's butt the moment his teammate blew the whistle.

With the Apollo cabin on his tail, an angry Lee Fletcher and sexy Will Solace among them, he didn't like having to deviate from the plan. But if Percy was incapacitated or taken prisoner, what little left of their strategy would fall to pieces.

"Taking a detour," he muttered. "Hold on tight."

He changed directions abruptly, heading for the spot he could hear the shrill tooting coming from. The Hephaestus cabin had supplied the blue team with what they honest-to-gods called 'rape whistles'. It was some pop-culture reference Nico didn't get. He was an old-school fella, he thought. But the point was, if any of the blue team were ambushed, they would make enough noise to either signal their capture or to get help. Based on how long Percy had managed to blow for, he wanted help.

"Holy Hera, Jackson," Nico grumbled, leaping over a fallen tree. "What in Hades could have gotten your toga in such a twist?"

Apparently the Apollo cabin had awful night vision. Nico heard Lee Fletcher take a dive as he tripped over the log. They were catching up though, and that spurred Nico to run faster. The whistling was piercing his ears now and as he pushed an arm of shrubbery away, he could see why. He'd found the clearing Percy was in and honestly, the sight was a little pathetic.

Percy seemed to be doing a dance of some sort – jerking his arms and legs around in a rhythmless sprawl, like an adrenaline-high monkey. His face was annoyed and panicked, the whistle clamped tightly in his teeth. Facing him, on the other side of the stream that cut through the woods, was a monstrously amused Jason, whose arms were shaking with the laughter that wracked his whole body. All thoughts of the Apollo cabin pursuing him left Nico's brain as he jumped into the clearing.

"You had one job, Percy," he groaned. "_One job." _

Percy spat the whistle out of his mouth, letting it bounce against his chest as the string around his neck held it.

"Nico!" he yelled. "Help me!"

"Did the Hecate cabin get you with something?" Nico asked sarcastically.

"_NO!" _Percy wailed. His leg kicked in a dodge and suddenly, Nico saw something impact against the stones of the bank. He tried to get a better look, but it had gone. As he paid more attention, he saw bunches of the things flying all around Percy.

"Athena cabin!" the Poseidon kid shouted. "Under fire, you moron! _They have stones!" _

"The great Percy Jackson," Nico intoned, "defeated by a shower of rocks."

"_Nico!" _

Nico waited a second for Percy's pleas to continue. He liked seeing the other boy squirm. Ever since the blessing/curse Percy had forced on him by giving him Will 'Romeo' Solace as his English partner, Nico had gone out of his way to discomfort the Poseidon kid.

But Percy didn't say anything else. His eyes weren't even on Nico anymore. He was staring at the edge of the stream, where Nico had briefly seen Jason. Not a beat too late, Nico dropped in a roll, ignoring the stones against his armour. Somebody suddenly impacted exactly where he'd been milliseconds before.

"Rude," Nico told Jason as he untucked and got to his feet. "In the back, Jason?"

Jason shrugged.

"Hey bro, I love you," he said, "but when it comes to Capture the Flag, shit gets serious."

"Yes," Nico rolled his eyes, "I feel the love here, Grace."

Jason's eyes flickered to the undergrowth behind Nico, then back. Nico was about to turn around to see what had attracted his attention but, with a giant war cry, Jason charged him, head first. His fists were raised in what would be a crushing blow. Nico swore loudly as he skipped out of the way. This wasn't going well.

Jason changed direction, running like the very air was pushing him. Nico had to briefly wonder if Jason had farted. He didn't get long to think about it. Throwing himself to one side, he narrowly avoided the blows charged his way. His armour grated as it scudded the ground, sending him towards the stream.

Nico barely managed to curl away from the sudden kick to his middle, arching his stomach to avoid any _really _painful impact. But Jason's follow-through attack still caught him, and the meagre force was just enough to push the Hades camper into the stream. Nico gulped in air before he went under completely. His feet thrashed, until they found purchase and he was able to stand. The stream was only knee-deep at this point.

"Bad form," Nico coughed, hitting himself in the chest to dislodge the water in his throat.

"A kick can win many things," Jason said, as if he were a bloody philosopher. "And don't you start quoting Peter Pan to me. It's not funny."

An inside joke, when Percy had called Jason Superman, had gotten so far out of hand that Jason had unwittingly adopted the nickname of any fictional character that flew. Nico had contributed Peter Pan. He'd thought it was hilarious. Jason didn't.

"You just pushed me into a stream," Nico argued. "You don't get an opinion."

Then he launched himself at Jason. Caught off guard, the Zeus camper buckled under Nico's landing. The black haired boy took advantage of his competition being stunned, quickly pinching the nerve clusters in Jason's arms and sending them tingling uselessly.

"Percy!" he called, not looking over his shoulder. "You can run now. Jason's not going anywhere."

He didn't get a reply. Nico waited a few seconds before glancing behind him.

Only to see Percy surrounded by a group of Athena campers. Nico didn't know how he'd missed them coming into the clearing. They must have been in the trees, firing on Percy and then when Jason went down, they climbed out.

If Nico got up to help, Jason would probably escape. So, instead, he ground his bony bum into the nerves in Jason's thigh. Jason groaned as Nico stood up.

"Not cool," he told the Hades kid. "Not cool at all, Nico. I thought we were bros."

"When it comes to Capture the Flag," Nico mimicked, "shit gets serious."

Then he started running for the group surrounding Percy. He could see his friend fighting off the campers around him, but he was woefully outnumbered.

Nico dove for his teammate, arms outstretched and ready to pull any Athena boys off Percy.

But then something exploded across the back of his head, just hard enough to knock him out.

* * *

><p>It can't have been more than five minutes later that Nico was blinking stupidly up at the moonlight, his back slumped against something hard. He took it like a man though, not uttering a single groan as his sore head brushed the thing behind him.<p>

"Are you okay, Nico? You're not dead, right? Tell me you're not dead."

Nico scowled. So much for manliness. It seems he had made a noise.

"Not… dead," he grunted, shifting around and getting a feeling for his position. "Just… uncomfortable."

The sympathetic face of Will Solace appeared in the silver night light before him. Nico cursed swiftly in his mind. It wasn't fair that Will looked good under the sun _and _the moon. Just, unfair. And rude. Who did he think he was, with his surfer good-looks and curly, soft blond hair? Nico wanted to touch that hair… gah! Side-tracked again!

"I'm sorry," Will winced. "It's your own fault, you know."

Nico flexed his fingers.

"What did I do to warrant being tied to a tree?"

Will shrugged.

"You and your night-ninja ass do too well in this game for your own good," he said, a twinkling smile twitching his lips. Nico blinked as starlight lit up the blond's pearly teeth.

"Put those away, before you blind someone," he ordered. Will grinned wider.

"Like what you see, di Angelo?" he teased. Nico was appalled when he realised he couldn't use his hands to cover his face. Seated on the forest-edge floor like this, trapped and bound, was one thing. Torture-for-information-via-Will-Solace was a complete different area. In Nico's case, the information his kidnapper wanted, was whether he found him attractive. It was just such _Nico _luck that he groaned.

Will looked hurt, and he put a hand to his chest.

"Am I really that disgusting?" he whispered. Nico waded out of his pool of self-pity and lunged for the metaphorical shore. This left his tongue, sadly, completely unguarded.

"No!" he yelled hurriedly. "No, you're not disgusting."

Another moment passed where Nico wished he has access to his hands. If only to stop himself from talking. He was a public menace.

"Oh my gods," he muttered, hanging his head. "Just put me out of my misery now, please."

Will grinned, even if Nico didn't see it, and the white moonlight paled his otherwise pink cheeks.

"What am I if I'm not disgusting?" Will asked slyly. Nico thumped against the tree at his back.

"Whatever you hit me with," he ground out, "get it, and hit me again."

"Why would I do that?" Will asked. Nico gritted his teeth as he fought the blush rising to his face.

"If you won't, I will," he declared, and whacked his head on the bark. Lint bits of tree stuck to his hair and Nico didn't care that what he was doing was the height of dumb-assery. He just wanted an out from the situation his traitorous mouth had gotten him into.

"Woah, Nico. Nico!"

And suddenly there wasn't a tree, but a soft palm cupping the back of his head. He could feel cool fingers pressing the slivers of bark against his skin and then everything went into hyper-aware state as he realised that _Will Solace was holding him up _and was this an appropriate time to freak out? Nico decided it was.

But before he flipped his shit and almost burst out his love for his wayward, awkward Romeo, the very same antagonist of his thoughts started stroking his hair and Nico's remaining cranial power blinked out faster than a dead bulb.

"Don't kill your brain cells!" Will scolded worriedly. "There isn't enough of them as is!"

"Oh, hah hah," Nico retorted, trying to pretend he wasn't at all mentally affected by the warm skin brushing his neck and that it was all the tree-bashing he'd done.

"You're a crazy nut, Nico di Angelo," Will told him seriously.

"Pity for you if you expected anything different," Nico smiled. He saw Will's face light up like a meteor at the sight, and surmised he was hopelessly devoted to a complete and utter dork.

So that was how they spent that particular night in the woods, ignoring the yelling of their Capture the Flag teammates, and barely noticing as blue-plumed campers struck the red flag sentry and ran away with their prize, yelling obscenities and slapping their butts in triumph.

Both were content with their corner of the clearing and the mindless conversations they had, dismissing the rivalry between their friends and 'fraternising with the enemy,' as Percy later put it to Nico.

Grudgingly, and to himself, the Hades camper admitted that it was almost as if he and Will were meant to be Romeo and Juliet. That individual Capture the Flag game made it seem less like a school play, and more like real life.

***comes out from behind couch holding hands up* I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY! Things got so out of hand down here and I was so busy and it seemed like everyone just wanted me to do things for them and not sit down and write this I'M SORRY! HERE HAVE SOME FLUFF! **

**Thank you all for not giving up on me, though, and here is the promised chapter. I'm making a CONSERVATIVE EFFORT to update sooner next time! AND MERRY CHRISTMAS, WHILE I'M AT IT! HOPE IT WAS ALL AWESOME AND FILLED WITH NICENESS FOR YOU! **

**And for all you people who asked, my Solangelo mermaid story is published and titled A Tail of Stockholme Syndrome. **

**Until next time,**

**Jasmine Out!**

**I promise, I will be quicker. No more month delays. **


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